Baking Classes for Ladies in Abu Halifa

This lady is also offering Bollywood dance classes twice a week from 9-10AM.

Plan to celebrate Easter with Delia Online

Website [link].

The Whole of Turkey Suffers Power Outage

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said officials are inspecting all possible causes, including a terror attack, for the electricity cut across Turkey, as power blackouts continue in several provinces including Istanbul and Ankara.

Officials told daily Hürriyet that a technical problem in the system of the Turkish Electricity Conduction Company (TEİAŞ), which operates energy transmission lines, led to the massive outage.

At least 44 provinces throughout Turkey are affected by the outage.

Energy Minister Taner Yıldız has said teams are working to determine the cause of the blackout, ruling out claims that the country is suffering an energy shortage. 

“I also cannot say whether or not there was a cyber attack,” Yıldız said.

Davutoğlu has said "all possibilities," including a terror attack, are being investigated.

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality announced in a statement that metro and tram services had been halted due to the blackout.

The Energy Ministry has also released a statement, saying a problem has occured with the main distribution lines and the cut is likely to have originated in the Aegean region. 

The blackout is the biggest power outage in Turkey in 15 years, the ministry added.

Comic Relief Great British Quiz Night at NES

Join the New English School in Jabriya @nes_kuwait on Thursday 9th of April to raise funds for this years @comicrelief appeal. Tickets cost KD5 & include a buffet curry and snacks. Lots of prizes and raffle goodies on offer courtesy of our sponsors Paul Smith, The Regency Hotel and Habchi & Chalhoub.

Email: radawa@neskt.org OR asmith@neskt.org for further details. Open to adults & parents only. 

A Large Dose of Improv Comedy Please

They’re back! The SIK Comedy team bring another night of humour to the Live Theater. Seats are limited so book early and enjoy a night of improvised comedy madness that has been hailed by some as “the perfect antidote to global terror” and by others as “terrifyingly amusing.”

WHEN: Thursday April 2nd & 8pm

WHERE: Live Theater, Discovery Mall, Kuwait City

Tickets: [link]

Cascade British Nursery Now Registering for 2015/16

Are you looking for a nursery for your little one? Cascade British Nursery is now registering for the new school year 2015/16. Please call Yasmine on 65667678.

British Embassy's Comic Relief Kuwait 2015 Event Raises Over KD 6200 for the Fight Against Poverty

A fun-filled evening at the British embassy event with the generous guests making large donations to help the Comic Relief 2015 Campaign. Hilariously hosted by Tim Waddell and Hassan Rawas assisted by Kristen Falcioni. The organiser, Karen Alanizi, worked tirelessly to bring it all together and deserves another medal. Embassy Events Manager, Heather McGarrick, had her work cut out for her but overcame triumphantly. A few minor hiccups but overall a wonderful effort for a great cause. 

With huge thanks to the British Ambassador HE Mathew Lodge and his lovely wife Alexia for allowing the event in the embassy garden. They were both great sports although I don't think either of them, or I, will be eating any more cream pies..ever.  

Little Stars Youth Theatre

How to Heal Everyday Emotional Injuries That Often Get Overlooked by Dr Guy Winch

Psychologist Guy Winch lays out seven useful ways to reboot your emotional health … starting right now.

You put a bandage on a cut or take antibiotics to treat an infection, right? No questions asked. In fact, questions would be asked if you didn’t apply first aid when necessary. So why isn’t the same true of our mental health? We are expected to just “get over” psychological wounds — when as anyone who’s ever ruminated over rejection or agonized over a failure knows only too well, emotional injuries can be just as crippling as physical ones. We need to learn how to practice emotional first aid. Here are 7 ways to do so:

You put a bandage on a cut or take antibiotics to treat an infection, right? No questions asked. In fact, questions would be asked if you didn’t apply first aid when necessary. So why isn’t the same true of our mental health? We are expected to just “get over” psychological wounds — when as anyone who’s ever ruminated over rejection or agonized over a failure knows only too well, emotional injuries can be just as crippling as physical ones. We need to learn how to practice emotional first aid. Here are 7 ways to do so:

1. Pay attention to emotional pain — recognize it when it happens and work to treat it before it feels all-encompassing.
   The body evolved the sensation of physical pain to alert us that something is wrong and we need to address it. The same is true for emotional pain. If a rejection, failure or bad mood is not getting better, it means you’ve sustained a psychological wound and you need to treat it. For example, loneliness can be devastatingly damaging to your psychological and physical health, so when you or your friend or loved one is feeling socially or emotionally isolated, you need to take action.
2. Redirect your gut reaction when you fail.
   The nature of psychological wounds makes it easy for one to lead to another. Failure can often drive you to focus on what you can’t do instead of focusing on what you can. That can then make you less likely to perform at your best, which will make you even more focused on your shortcomings, and on the cycle goes. To stop this sort of emotional spiral, learn to ignore the post-failure “gut” reaction of feeling helpless and demoralized, and make a list of factors that you can control were you to try again. For instance, think about preparation and planning, and how you might improve each of them. This kind of exercise will reduce feelings of helplessness and improve your chances of future success.
3. Monitor and protect your self-esteem. When you feel like putting yourself down, take a moment to be compassionate to yourself.Self-esteem is like an emotional immune system that buffers you from emotional pain and strengthens your emotional resilience. As such, it is very important to monitor it and avoid putting yourself down, particularly when you are already hurting. One way to “heal” damaged self-esteem is to practice self-compassion. When you’re feeling critical of yourself, do the following exercise: imagine a dear friend is feeling bad about him or herself for similar reasons and write an email expressing compassion and support. Then read the email. Those are the messages you should be giving yourself.
4. When negative thoughts are taking over, disrupt them with positive distraction.When you replay distressing events in your mind without seeking new insight or trying to solve a problem, you’re just brooding, and that, especially when it becomes habitual, can lead to deeper psychological pain. The best way to disrupt unhealthy rumination is to distract yourself by engaging in a task that requires concentration (for example, do a Sudoku, complete a crossword, try to recall the names of the kids in your fifth grade class). Studies show that even two minutes of distraction will reduce the urge to focus on the negative unhealthily.
5. Find meaning in loss.Loss is a part of life, but it can scar us and keep us from moving forward if we don’t treat the emotional wounds it creates. If sufficient time has passed and you’re still struggling to move forward after a loss, you need to introduce a new way of thinking about it. Specifically, the most important thing you can do to ease your pain and recover is to find meaning in the loss and derive purpose from it. It might be hard, but think of what you might have gained from the loss (for instance, “I lost my spouse but I’ve become much closer to my kids”). Consider how you might gain or help others gain a new appreciation for life, or imagine the changes you could make that will help you live a life more aligned with your values and purpose.
6. Don’t let excessive guilt linger.Guilt can be useful. In small doses, it alerts you to take action to mend a problem in your relationship with another person. But excessive guilt is toxic, in that it wastes your emotional and intellectual energies, distracts you from other tasks, and prevents you from enjoying life. One of the best ways to resolve lingering guilt is to offer an effective apology. Yes, you might have tried apologizing previously, but apologies are more complex than we tend to realize. The crucial ingredient that every effective apology requires — and most standard apologies lack — is an “empathy statement.” In other words, your apology should focus less on explaining why you did what you did and more on how your actions (or inactions) impacted the other person. It is much easier to forgive someone when you feel they truly understand. By apologizing (even if for a second time), the other person is much more likely to convey authentic forgiveness and help your guilt dissolve.
7. Learn what treatments for emotional wounds work for you.Pay attention to yourself and learn how you, personally, deal with common emotional wounds. For instance, do you shrug them off, get really upset but recover quickly, get upset and recover slowly, squelch your feelings, or …? Use this analysis to help yourself understand which emotional first aid treatments work best for you in various situations (just as you would identify which of the many pain relievers on the shelves works best for you). The same goes for building emotional resilience. Try out various techniques and figure out which are easiest for you to implement and which tend to be most effective for you. But mostly, get into the habit of taking note of your psychological health on a regular basis — and especially after a stressful, difficult, or emotionally painful situation.

Yes, practicing emotional hygiene takes a little time and effort, but it will seriously elevate your entire quality of life. I promise.

Hip-Hop, Popping, Boogaloo, Tutting, Waving Today 5-9PM

One World Actor's Centre Advanced Theatre Master Classes at Bayt Lothan

Co-Pilot of Germanwings Airbus Deliberately Crashed Plane

The Marseille prosecutor has released a statement on BBC News concerning this deliberate act. The co-pilot was a German, aged 28 years old, named Andreas Lubitz. According to conversations on the black box voice recordings the Captain left the cockpit, presumably to use the toilet, the co-pilot manually selected the aircraft to descend at a rapid speed and crash into the mountains. The Captain is heard on the black box banging on the locked cockpit door trying to re-enter the cockpit realising the aircraft was in a deep, abnormal descent. One of the black boxes is still missing. 

LWDLIK - Reminiscent of EgyptAir flight 990. Perhaps pilots should be regularly psychologically evaluated and drug tested?

What is Captagon? The Gulf Countries Illegal Drug of Choice

Every few months there seems to be a headline trumpeting the seizure of a drug called captagon, often in staggering quantities. A large seizure, reported in The National last week, comprised 6.5 million pills. Last month, Dubai police seized 17.7 million pills and this week in Kuwait a massive haul of 7 million in kids school bags from Lebanon to a Syrian trader in Kuwait.

Captagon is an illicit amphetamine-type substance, a class-A narcotic, defined as a schedule I (high potential for abuse) controlled substance.

If you go to Google Trends, the search engine’s own interface for search statistics, and type the word “captagon”, you will find that more people in Saudi Arabia search for it than in any other country in the world. The not-so-catchy chemical name for captagon, is fenethylline and for that term too, people in Saudi Arabia top the search rankings.

Google prides itself on knowing what the world wants. In Saudi Arabia, like no other place on Earth, there appears to be an appetite to know about captagon. Wishing to know about, and wishing to consume are, of course, two completely different things. But in recent years, the quantity of captagon being smuggled into Saudi Arabia is mind-boggling. And we only know about the seizures and not what actually gets through.

The 2011 world drug report, compiled by the United Nations, suggested that Saudi Arabia was ranked number one for the seizure of amphetamines. The largest of the Gulf states accounted for 21 per cent of all seizures worldwide, way ahead of the US, which was ranked second with 12 per cent of seizures. The 2014 world drug report identifies Saudi Arabia as a major destination for amphetamines, and the broader region still accounts for 56 per cent of global seizures.

This too, is in the context of a reported quadrupling of the seizures of amphetamines worldwide in the past five years. Perhaps even more worrying for regional authorities was the recent identification and dismantling of the first ever amphetamine lab – think hit HBO TV series Breaking Bad – on Saudi soil.

Once upon a time, captagon, the major form of amphetamine finding its way to the region, was a legal pharmaceutical product. It was used in the 1960s to treat psychiatric conditions such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, narcolepsy (a sleeping disorder) and depression, but it fell from grace and was added to the controlled substances list.

Today’s counterfeit version of captagon is based on the original synthetic drug fenethylline, but is typically adulterated with amphetamine, methamphetamine and other non-stimulant substances such as procaine (a local anaesthetic) and quinine (a painkiller).

Thankfully, the police and customs officials keep seizing these pills but this poses the question of how many shipments actually slip through and who, if anyone, is consuming all this product? It would seem naive in the extreme to suggest that every attempted importation is seized or that these pills are being stockpiled rather than consumed. The question is who buys it?    

Is captagon, or Abu Hilalain as it is sometimes known locally, being used as an appetite suppressant? Amphetamine type substances have this effect, and weight loss is considered increasingly desirable.

Maybe it is it being used by taxi drivers trying to cheat sleep and work around the clock, or maybe by the 24–hour party people, keen to party harder for longer? Maybe college students, motivated more by high grades than a drug high, use it to help them pull all-nighters?

Perhaps the pill-like form and the pharmaceutical-sounding name give it the veneer of medical respectability, lulling some people into viewing it as legitimate remedy for whatever ails them.

In addition to targeting the supply, we really need to invest more in exploring and understanding the demand. Why has this particular drug found such a large market in the Gulf region?

Dr Justin Thomas is an associate professor of psychology at Zayed University and author of Psychological Well-Being in the Gulf States

On Twitter: @DrJustinThomas


LWDLIK - Interesting insight by Dr Thomas. Perhaps in Saudi and Kuwait there is the boredom factor too. People want a buzz and these I'm sure are much cheaper than black market prices for alcohol. Very worrying.

Earth Hour Kuwait Event March 28th 6PM at Kipco Tower

Al Mulla Exchange Presents Love Letters and The Glass Menagerie

KD 600 Reward For Return of Bella the Dog - Bella has Still Not Been Found!

600 KD reward Tel. 94009009. Dog's name is Bella. Lost today Surra Blk 1 ran over the bridge to Jabriya. Owner is desperate to find her. Female Griffon. Share, repost please.

Update - I was told that she'd been found but it seems wrong dog so Bella is still out there. The owner told me Bella got lost whilst she was being groomed by Animal Care. 

Earth Hour 2015: Take Part By Creating An Event Or A Crowdfunding Project In Kuwait

http://www.earthhour.org/earth-hour-starter-kit 

Orchestre National de Barbes Live at Kuwait National Museum Theater

A2Z Home Store Sale Now on

Endometriosis Worldwide March

LOYAC's Personal Empowerment Academy Programme - Last Chance to Apply

Sign Up Now!
For more information about this program, email global@loyac.org or WhatsApp us on 97239423 #GLOYAC

The Man Who Made Singapore Dies

SINGAPORE — Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father and first prime minister of Singapore who transformed that tiny island outpost into one of the wealthiest and least corrupt countries in Asia, died on Monday morning. He was 91.

Mr. Lee was prime minister from 1959, when Singapore gained full self-government from the British, until 1990, when he stepped down. Late into his life he remained the dominant personality and driving force in what he called a First World oasis in a Third World region.

The nation, reflected the man: efficient, unsentimental, incorrupt, inventive, forward-looking and pragmatic.

“We are ideology-free,” Mr. Lee said in an interview with The New York Times in 2007, stating what had become, in effect, Singapore’s ideology. “Does it work? If it works, let’s try it. If it’s fine, let’s continue it. If it doesn’t work, toss it out, try another one.”

His leadership was sometimes criticized for suppressing freedom, but the formula succeeded. Singapore became an international business and financial center admired for its efficiency and low level of corruption.

Lee Kuan Yew, who was sometimes known by his English name, Harry Lee, was born in Singapore on Sept. 16, 1923, to a fourth-generation, middle-class Chinese family.

He worked as a translator and engaged in black market trading during the Japanese occupation in World War II, then went to Britain, where he earned a law degree in 1949 from Cambridge University. In 1950 he married Kwa Geok Choo, a fellow law student from Singapore. She died in 2010.

After serving as prime minister from 1959 to 1990, Mr. Lee was followed by two handpicked successors, Goh Chok Tong and Mr. Lee’s eldest son, Lee Hsien Loong, who, groomed for the job, has been prime minister since 2004.



LWDLIK - Lee is seen as power behind the nation's rise from glorified fishing village into one of the world's economic powerhouses. When the country was expelled from the Malaysian Federation a tearful Lee Kuan Yew announced in a televised press conference that Singapore had become a sovereign, independent nation. In a widely remembered quote, he stated: "For me, it is a moment of anguish. All my life, my whole adult life, I have believed in merger and unity of the two territories." 

Singapore had no natural resources at that time it was a fishing village with swamp-filled jungles; they didn't even have fresh water and relied on Malaysia to supply them for many years.

Just look at them now, baby. Wow! This is what great leadership can do for a country and it's people. Makes me wonder if Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai didn't find great inspiration from Lee Kuan Yew's incredible character and example. RIP Lee Kuan Yew. Job done!

Engineering For Kids Grand Opening Classes

When It Rains In Kuwait

Wafra. 
Thankfully this happened only in a few areas.
Photos courtesy of Ayman Mat.

Review: Nunsense Musical at Live Theatre

Another fun, first class show by Staged in Kuwait. Outstanding singing from these very entertaining ladies - Carly Stark, Sharon Williams, Fiona Nelson, Kristen Falcioni and Stacey Fitzpatrick. Some wonderful melodies, lots of laughs. A thoroughly appreciative audience. Loved it. Many thanks again SIK.

Manifesto 13 Registration Open For Spring Art Classes

Classes: art101, art102, art103, visual storytelling, and one more adult class TBA soon! Limited spaces available for all classes. For registration: tel# 22650335 email: info@manifesto13.com Office hours: Sunday-Thursday 11:00am-6:00pm

Kids Spring Camp at Kuwait Riding Centre

King Abdullah II of Jordan Addresses The European Parliament

LWDLIK - What a fine King. His daddy chose well.

DGRCP 2nd Photography Exploration Workshop

Street Fest

Happy St. Patrick"s Day at Crowne Plaza

Seriously Kuwait? 2 Bedroomed Apartments for KD 1,200

Am I the only one that thinks this is ridiculously expensive? No pool and unfurnished.

The rent for our apartment has just gone up by KD 100 but the salaries haven't gone up and the cost of living just gets higher. 

Unrealistic, unfair and greedy.

Father and Son 100 KM Sponsored 4 Day Trek Through the Kuwaiti Desert For Charity Operation Hope Kuwait

Photos of the two which were taken at the end of their four day trek, and I salute you, Mike and Ryan, for blessing OH Kuwait with such a charitable act of kindness and servitude. Your donation will surely be a blessing!

"An amazing feat which a father and son recently undertook in order to support OH Kuwait. At son Ryan Buist's suggestion, he and his father, Mike set out on a 100 km sponsored trek through the south of Kuwait.

This journey took them four days to complete, and included an encounter with a mega sandstorm on their first day out! They carried on their backs the weight of their supplies, which included water, tents, food, and other survivalist essentials in order that they could meet their goal of hiking 25 km per day. Only once in the morning and once in the evening did they have any phone contact with Mrs. Buist to confirm their whereabouts and safety, and then their phone would be disconnected in order to conserve its battery supply.

Mike and Ryan asked colleagues, friends and family to sponsor their goal of 100 km by making financial donations, and I'm very blessed (and humbled) to say that they raised over KD 400 through the generosity of people who live in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, and in other parts of the world! I continue to marvel at sixteen year old Ryan's suggested means of fundraising not many his age would be so generous by sacrificing a long weekend holiday to raise money for the sake of the needy. 

 Sheryll Mairza, Founder of Operation Hope Kuwait. 

LWDLIK - Bravo gentlemen. What a wonderful father and son thing to do. And for such a great cause.

KSPATH's Board of Directors Announces Departure of Executive Director & Managing Director

Statement from K'S PATH:

It is with a mixture of excitement and sadness that we announce the departure of our Founder and Executive Director, Ayeshah Al-Humaidhi, and our Managing Director John Peaveler. Both Ayeshah and John have built K’S PATH over the last 10 years and have skillfully developed it into the leading animal welfare organization in Kuwait.

The Board of Directors and staff at K’S PATH will be very sad to see them go, but we look forward to the next chapter in our history. The Board of Directors has successfully found a new candidate for the Executive Director position which we will be excited to announce in the coming weeks. Ayeshah will remain the Chairman of the Board for the near future. We wish Ayeshah and John the best of luck in all their future endeavors, which we are certain will be successful.

From Ayeshah Al-Humaidhi, Founder and Executive Director of K’S PATH:

It has been an honor and a privilege to lead K’S PATH for the last ten years. Choosing to move was the most difficult decision of my life but although I leave with the heaviest of hearts, I am extremely confident that K’S PATH will continue to grow and flourish and serve Kuwait for many years to come. Our Board of Directors and staff are an extremely strong and committed team and will carry the organization into a new era. I will be moving on to leading an animal shelter in the US and know that my years serving K’S PATH has equipped me very well to move into a new leadership role in the US. I will remain the Chairman of K’S PATH’s Board so will continue to work closely with the Board of Directors and new Executive Director who will be doing amazing things for the organization.

I extend my deepest gratitude to all of our board, supporters, donors, staff and volunteers. You have all taught me a great deal about civic duty, service and the meaning of community. Thank you.

From John Peaveler, Managing Director of K’S PATH:
K'SPATH has been such an important part of my life for the last ten years that it is extremely difficult to imagine so much distance between myself and the shelter I hold so dearly. Taking the decision to leave was very difficult indeed. I am however comforted by the knowledge that moving on would not have been possible without an absolutely stellar team of staff, volunteers, benefactors, and board members to lead this organization toward an ever brighter future. I am comforted too that by remaining as an advisor to the board I can continue to provide a part of the leadership necessary to serve the incredible animal and human population of Kuwait. None of the wonderful people and animals I have worked with over the last decade will ever be far from my mind. You have all been amazing, and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for this amazing organization.

From Sheikha Fatima Al-Sabah, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of K’S PATH:

On behalf of the Board of Directors, we want to thank John and Ayeshah for their service to the organization and our mission. Although we are sad to see them go, we are excited for them as they initiate this next stage in their lives and careers. In the next few weeks, we will formally announce our new Executive Director. Both Ayeshah and the Board of Directors want to ensure a smooth transition that will not disrupt the great work that K’S PATH is doing on a daily basis and I will personally oversee this transition. We are sure that the organization will continue to grow and blossom in Kuwait and affect positive change in people’s perceptions and actions towards animals and the environment.

Again, we thank Ayeshah and John for their vision and leadership over the past ten years and wish them continued success in their next endeavor. We look forward to the next chapter at K’S PATH and continuing to build a compassionate Kuwait.

LWDLIK - Wishing them the best of luck. They have built a strong, committed organisation that will, undoubtedly, continue to grow and benefit animal welfare and the environment in Kuwait.